The Importance of Winning
by Potter25
Summary: Harry, Ron, and Hermione have found all the Horcruxes and now it's time to destroy Voldemort once and for all especially since he's holding the key to Harry's heart and will to live. Harry is determined to get it back, no matter what the risks. PARALL


This just completely came to me…and I had to write it…it was inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia as well…lol…I had to…

Harry sat on a hippogriff at the point of the formation; he wore a protective leather body suit with chain mail over it to protect his skin. On his head was a metal helmet with the visor down, much like what a knight would have worn. In his right hand he carried his wand; in his left, he carried a sword for Muggle combat. Ron and Hermione sat upon unicorns about a foot behind him on either side. Ron was dressed much the same as Harry was only his visor was open exposing his face. He also held his wand in one hand and a large metal bat with spikes on it in the other. Hermione wore only the tight leather suit, covering her entire body. In one hand she held her wand, in the other she held the reigns to her unicorn. The other order members; including Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Mr. Weasley, Tonks, a transformed Remus, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody, and the minister of magic himself stood behind the three teens in formation; behind the members of the order stood all the volunteers that wished to help in the cause. Neville, Dean, Seamus, Michael Corner, Lee Jordan, and Luna were some of the people. Flanking either side of the gathered warriors were hundreds of Unicorns and Centaurs. One motion from Harry, and they would all fight.

After a long tense silence, Harry could just make out Voldemort's followers approaching from over the hills of Ireland. He thought it was a shame that they had to cause such havoc on the beautiful landscape. He took a deep breath and waited for them to get closer. He could see dementors, hundreds of them, soaring high above.

"Don't let them frighten you!" he shouted. "We have a purpose! Always remember that purpose!"

Just as the words left his lips, he felt the tell-tale symptoms of dementors, only he didn't hear his mother screaming, he heard something almost worse, he heard Ginny. She was crying, choking sobs that picked at his heart. Then, he saw her; the image of her looking up at him, tears coursing down her cheeks, before turning and swiftly walking away from him, her golden dress robes swirling around her as she weaved in and out of the crowd. Suddenly she was gone, and he was left with an icy ball in the pit of his stomach.

However, the dementors didn't do the job that they had intended, because all it did was fill him with more determination. He was going to save her. If he didn't, if Ginny died during this war, then this was a pointless battle. He would fight for her to live, even if it meant his death. She meant that much to him.

Wrenching his mind away from where his thoughts had been, he shouted an unearthly noise from somewhere around his gut and raised his sword high above his head. At his command, thousands of Phoenixes flew from the ledges of cliffs that they were perched and flew down toward the approaching death eaters. Each one burst into flames as they neared the opposing side. A wall of fire blocked off the death eaters for a short time, however the dementors penetrated the fire.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!" _Harry shouted, pointing his wand at the dementors that were now above them. Ron and Hermione followed suit, as did the order. The volunteers, catching on, did the same. Dementors disintegrated one by one, some in groups, until they were practically all gone.

Harry looking forward saw that the flames had died down and the death eaters were quickly approaching again, they numbered in the thousands, in the distance Harry could see giants also amongst them. In fact a line of giants seemed to be forming a circle around something that looked to be of importance, and he would bet all his money in Gringotts money that he knew exactly what they were protecting; Voldemort was here.

"VOLDEMORT IS HERE!"

A murmur went through the gathered fighters.

Harry watched ahead some more, waiting for them to get closer. When they were close enough, Harry lifted his sword again in the second attack. At this the unicorns and centaurs took off, charging the opposing side. The clash was extreme. One unicorn speared a death eater with its horn and flung him high into the air. When he landed, a centaur trampled over him in his eagerness to find himself his own death eater. When the death eaters looked as though they were catching on, and sending curses at the beasts, Harry figured it was about time.

"ALL READY?"

"Harry, mate, we've been ready. We're with you all the way." Ron said from next to him. If he was afraid, he didn't show it. Ron pushed his visor down, and sat upon his unicorn, wand at the ready.

Harry just nodded, looking straight ahead. 'I'M GOING AFTER VOLDEMORT!"

Harry took a deep breath and kicked the hippogriff's side. He took to the air.

The others took this as their cue. Ron and Hermione charged forward, followed by the order and volunteers running after them, weapons and wands at the ready. Ron's unicorn speared a few death eaters as he passed through the death eaters. He made sure that they were thrown far from Hermione's path, who rode directly behind him.

He could hear her throwing curses as they galloped. A death eater retaliated, and threw a curse back at her, effectively throwing her off her unicorn. Her unicorn galloped away to spear more death eaters. Ron reined the horse, and turned around, a terror gripping him like he's never known before. He watched as Hermione landed on the ground and rolled over so she could push herself into standing position. Her wand was at the ready, and he was surprised to see that it was steady. She glared at the death eater, her knees slightly bent, ready to pounce. The death eater charged for her, and she grabbed his wand arm and twisted it, dislodging the wand from his hand. She kicked him in hard the face, knocking him out.

Ron grinned and shouted "HERMIONE! GET UP HERE!"

Hermione looked at him in relief before running over. Ron held his hand out to help her up.

"Don't scare me like that again!" he said to her when she was safely behind him.

"Like I did it to scare you, Ronald," she huffed, but held Ron tightly around his waist. He kicked the unicorn into gallop, and they took off towards the center where they knew Harry and Voldemort were sure to be.

* * *

Harry flew over the battle. It was sure to be bloody; smoke was already rising from all the curses being thrown. He kept his eyes focused on the formation of giants around Voldemort. He was sure it was Voldemort now, because now that he was closer, he could actually see him situated on a chariot being pulled by a giant. As he got closer, anger and fear gripped him because he saw that Voldemort wasn't alone on the chariot. Ginny was with him; from the looks of it, she was chained to the floor of the chariot at Voldemort's feet. She was motionless.

Harry directed the hippogriff into a dive. He flung a curse at one of the giants. Its neck snapped and it fell down dead. He dodged the onslaught of curses and even managed to fling a few more in between each dodge. About 5 of the giants were dead. He saw Voldemort stand up, his arms outstretched; a twisted smile contorting his face.

"FINALLY! HARRY POTTER HAS COME AT LAST!"

Harry saw Ginny look up a hearing his name. She gazed at him, tears of intense fear rolled down her cheeks as she looked up at him. She shook her head, her eyes wide. Harry gripped his wand tighter, rage coursing through his system.

_I will kill him; I will kill him now! _He thought to himself, as he drifted closer.

"HARRY POTTER, YOU MAY HAVE GOTTEN MY HORCRUXES, BUT YOU WON'T GET ME!" he laughed then, an inhuman laugh; a laugh that twisted Harry's insides with disgust. "IT'S TO LATE POTTER! GINNY'S MY WIFE!"

Harry's eyes grew wide. His stomach dropped as he looked at Ginny; his sweet, lovely Ginny, so young, so scared. She was once so carefree, all that changed when he had fallen in love with her. He, the boy who lived, who had the world on his shoulders, had fallen in love with her. He shouldn't have put her in danger with his love; she didn't' deserve it. Most of all, he didn't deserve to be loved by her.

Harry shouted in anger. He wouldn't let Voldemort take the person who meant the most to him away.

Landing with an inharmonious thump, Harry leapt off the hippogriff and stood with both his wand and his sword at the ready.

Voldemort laughed. "You think you are a match for Lord Voldemort?"

Harry's eyes blazed.

"I'll tell you what; we'll fight with our hands? How does that sound to you? It might make your death a bit quicker and less painful. No armor either," he added, smirking at Harry. He conjured a sword and threw his wand to the side.

Harry didn't smile; he extracted himself from his armor and placed his wand in his back pocket. He then advanced on Voldemort.

"STAND BACK! POTTER IS MINE!" Voldemort bellowed at the advancing giants and death eaters. "YOU HAVE OTHERS TO KILL; LEAVE POTTER TO ME!"

Metal clashed with metal. Harry spun around, and dropped his sword toward Voldemort's head; Voldemort was too quick, he brought his own sword up and blocked Harry's blow. Voldemort swung his sword down toward Harry's side. Metal clashed with metal again. Voldemort shouted in outrage, and swung his sword up again toward Harry's head. Harry effectively blocked it. Voldemort swung his sword over Harry's shoulder to slice at the other; he was delighted to see blood ooze out. "Ready to give in and let me kill you?"

"Never," he muttered through grit teeth.

* * *

Ron's unicorn speared another advancing death eater with his horn. Ron laughed at the sight of one of Voldemort's followers being flung like a garden gnome. Hermione looked at him disapprovingly.

A curse was flung at their back, and Ron and Hermione were thrown from the unicorn. Hermione fell over him with and unpleasant thump. She immediately rolled off, and tried to stand up, when their unicorn trampled over her leg. Ron heard the snap of her bone breaking. Ron thought quick and stupefied his unicorn to keep it from running away. He crawled over to Hermione who was staring at the smoky sky with glassy eyes. She turned her head towards him and smiled slightly.

"I'm sorry," she muttered.

Ron shook his head, telling her that he didn't think she should be sorry about anything.

"Do you still have your portkey?" he asked quietly.

"Yes."

"Well, I want you to go back to the burrow," he said.

"But…Ron…" she stuttered with wide eyes.

"No, Hermione, you need to go," he said leaving no room for negotiation.

Hermione nodded, tears filling her eyes. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the necklace that was her portkey. Ron tapped it with his wand and it began to glow.

"One more thing." He leaned down and kissed her. "I love you Hermione," he whispered.

He watched her eyes widen and fill with tears. "Oh Ron, I lo.."

The rest was cut off as she disappeared at that moment.

Ron stood up and went to enneverate his unicorn.

* * *

Harry rolled into standing position, panting as he pointed his sword at Voldemort again for what felt like the thousandth time during that battle. A thought ran through Harry's mind at that very moment. _Why didn't he just kill him? He had the curse that Hermione had found. He knew that all he had to do was pull out his wand and blow Voldemort away._ All Harry had to do was harness his love for Ginny in the curse and mutter the words _Amor destrutor _and Voldemort would exist no more.

Quickly dodging the point of Voldemort's wand, Harry spun around, and when he was facing Voldemort again, he slyly reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wand. He positioned it so that it was pointing through his other arm straight at Voldemort. Ginny's face popped into his mind; his enter body warmed. _I'm doing this for her._ A smile lit up his face for the first time all day. He silently moved his lips, whispering ever so quietly.

An amazing blast of bright pink light emerged from Harry's wand, blinding Harry. He heard an inhuman scream. The winds around him picked up, almost pushing him over. He heard the Giants shriek and the tell-tale popping of apparating and disapparating. After a few minutes of complete chaos, the light vanished and Harry was able to see what was happening around him. Where Voldemort had stood there was now only a smoldering pile of ashes that were being scattered across the battle field by the wind. The only people left on the smoking battle field were the dead, the order, and a few unicorns and centaurs.

Harry quickly looked over to where the chariot had been. Ginny was still there. His heart ballooned with relief. He ran over to the chariot and collapsed next to her, bringing her body to his. He kissed her head and caressed her hair. Tears coursed down his face as he pulled back to look at her. She also had tears trailing down her dirty face. He placed both of his hands on either side of her face, and wiped her tears with his thumbs causing dirt, blood, and mud to smear there. He smiled at her and kissed her on the mouth. He could taste the salt from her tears, or were they his tears? He wasn't sure. He was overcome with relief to have Ginny safely in his arms.

"I thought you were gone. Gods you scared me," he whispered, kissing her nose, and leaning his head on her forehead.

A fresh batch of tears began to flow down Ginny's face. "Harry…" her voice was raspy. "Harry…I'm so sorry."

"For what love?"

"For everything, causing you worry, for causing my family worry."

Harry smiled. "I'm sorry for denying my feelings for you for so long. But Gin, it's all over now."

Ginny nodded shakily.

"I love you, Ginny. I never got to say that at the wedding. I want to spend the rest of my life watching your hair turn gray."

Ginny smiled and wrapped her arms around Harry's neck. "I love you too."

"Hey, you two!" Ron stood about five feet away grinning madly, his helmet in his hand. "We won!"

"Where is Hermione?" asked Harry.

"She went back to the burrow; I think she broke her leg."

Harry nodded, and leaned over Ginny's leg with his wand out. He released her from the shackle around her ankle. Once that was done, Ginny tried to stand up.

"Ginny, I want you to take this portkey and go back to the burrow to be looked at," Harry instructed.

"I want to help," she insisted.

"Ginny, now that I have you back I'm not going to let anything else happen to you, there might be death eaters around. I need you to go back to the burrow and wait for me," he said.

Ginny's eyes began to water again. "Harry, I don't want to lose you either."

Harry smiled, and placed his hands on either side of her face again. "You never, ever have to worry about that again." He leaned in and kissed her before sliding the activated portkey into her hand. She gave him one last watery smile before disappearing.

* * *

He turned to Ron, his heart a whole lot lighter. "We did it, Ron."

Ron grinned and hugged Harry. "We did, didn't we? Let's go help."

"HARRY! RON!" Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George called them over.

"Did you find Ginny?" Mr.Weasley asked in a panic. He looked worse for wear. He had dried blood and dirt caked on his face and pant leg.

"She's safely at the burrow," Harry grinned.

"And Voldemort?" Bill asked, looking not much better than his father.

"Dead."

There was a massive outcry of joy at this. Luna started to cry into Neville's shoulder.

"Casualties?" Harry asked.

"Voldemort's death eaters had the biggest death rate. We did lose a few Unicorns, a few centaurs, many volunteers, Susan bone's father, Dean's brother, many others," Fred Answered.

"Anyone that I know?" he asked.

"Seamus, Dean, Lee, Mad-Eye, Kingsley, Oliver Wood, and Hagrid. I'm sorry Harry," said Fred in all sincerity.

Harry started at hearing all the casualties. Dean and Seamus had lived with him in his dorm for years. Now they had died because of _his _fight; and Hagrid, poor Hagrid. He needed to get back to the burrow. He was suddenly exhausted.

"Harry, use your portkey, and go back to the burrow," Remus advised, stepping out from behind Mr. Weasley, "you too Ron. We'll stay behind and gather the casualties for a proper burial."

Harry nodded, and pulled out his own portkey. He activated it and waited until he felt the pull behind his navel.

When he arrived, he was greeted with a stampede of hugs and kisses. Mrs. Weasley smothered him in a motherly hug. She was weeping openly and clutching him. "You saved my baby! You saved her!"

Harry had tears welling in his eyes as he patted her back comfortingly. This is where his home was, right here at the burrow, with the Weasleys'…with _Ginny._ When he was let go, Mrs. Weasley kissed him once on the cheek before moving onto Ron who had just arrived behind him.

Harry excused himself and checked in on Hermione who was staring into the fire in the living room, her leg wrapped up and propped on the coffee table. He entered the room and gave her a big hug. She jumped in surprise and turned to hug him back.

"How are you?" he asked when he broke away.

"I'm fine." She sniffled. "Where's Ron?"

"Right here," said a voice from the doorway.

Harry turned around to see Ron standing in the doorway. He stood up and exited the living room, wanting to give them some alone time. He made his way up stairs to Ginny's room.

* * *

Ron sat down next to Hermione and took her hand. When he looked over at her, she had tears in her eyes.

"Hermione? What's wrong?"

"Nothing at all, I'm just…so happy that you're alright. That everyone's alright."

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Ron, I never got to finish what I was going to say during the battle," she whispered, looking directly into his eyes.

"What's that?" he asked, gazing back.

"I love you too," she muttered, looking down at her lap.

Ron smiled and reached up to turn her head toward his. He leaned forward and kissed her full on the mouth.

"Hermione, I know I've been a real git in the past but…well…will you go out with me?"

Hermione gave a sniffly laugh. "Of course you big '_git._'"

Ron smiled and kissed her again.

* * *

Harry trudged up the stairs toward Ginny's bedroom. When he reached the door, he saw that it was partially open. He slowly opened the door and walked inside. The room was dark, but he could just make out the lump in Ginny's bed. He walked over and kneeled beside her. He lightly pushed a strand of hair away from Ginny's face, and saw that she had taken a shower. She still had tear tracks on her face and Harry wanted nothing more than to see them disappear.

He walked to the side of the bed that her back was facing and pulled the covers back. He wanted to be as close to Ginny as possibly. He crawled in, and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her toward his chest. He didn't want to let her go in fear that when he woke up, she would be gone. He placed a kiss on her head, and felt her snuggle closer to him. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Harry felt her grab his hand that was resting on her stomach, and hold it close to her heart. They remained like that all night long.

* * *

The next morning, Ginny woke up first. She smiled remembering last night, waking up to realize that Harry was in bed with her, cuddling up to her. She slowly turned around, careful not to wake him up. Her face was extremely close to his, she could feel his light breathing on her own. She noticed that he hadn't even bothered to wash his face when he came home because it was still caked with dirt.

After a few minutes, Harry began to stir. His arms tightened around Ginny as his eyes opened. He smiled and leaned forward to kiss her forehead affectionately.

"I wanted to ask you something last night, but you were asleep when I came home." Harry said groggilyy.

"And what was that?" Ginny asked.

Harry stared into her eyes, love radiating from his very soul. "I love you, Ginny Weasley."

"I love you too, Harry."

"I was serious when I said I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you," he continued.

Understanding registered and Ginny's eyes grew wide.

"Will you marry me?" Harry asked.

Ginny grinned as happy tears formed in her eyes. Her dream was finally coming true. "Of course I'll marry you!"

Harry grinned and pulled his fiancé towards him in the longest, sweetest, most passionate, and full of meaning kiss either of them had ever experienced.

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